A profile of presidential candidate Mary McAleese whose candidacy has been endorsed by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats.
Mary McAleese is a mixture of conservative and liberal, a feminist who's backed the Catholic church's teachings on social issues and the first woman pro-vice chancellor at Queen's University. She's a human rights lawyer who has campaigned for homosexual law reform.
Mary McAleese was born in Belfast in 1951 and is the eldest of nine children of Paddy Leneghan from Roscommon and Claire McManus from Antrim. She is married to Martin McAleese from Belfast and have three children Emma, Justin and Sarah Mai.
Mary grew up in the Ardoyne area of north Belfast in the height of "The Troubles". She studied law at Queen's University. While she was studying at Queen's, her family moved to Rostrevor in County Down because of sectarian attacks on their home and family pub. She became Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College Dublin at the age of 24.
She won the Fianna Fáil nomination over front runner Albert Reynolds despite only declaring her interest after John Hume decided against running.
Her career has included fighting for criminal reform as a lawyer in Dublin, advising the Catholic hierarchy at the New Ireland Forum, and was also a current affairs presenter and reporter at RTÉ.
Photo by Eve Holmes
Her presidential campaign has taken place during a political storm over the leaking of documents at the Department of Foreign Affairs. She has acknowledged that there may be a lot of bridges to build before the Áras has its first president from Northern Ireland.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 22 October 1997. The reporter is Aileen O'Meara.
